Braille teaching device



E. S. WESSBORG BRAILLE TEACHING DEVICE March 13, 1945.

- Filed March 3l, 1941 8 m .U w r n mm s w a m uq. n 7 4. I I

5% I the 20 rather INVEINTOR E1216 6. WESSBORG l/ ATTORNEY.

scribed and claimed emi-symbols, numbers and 3; i view of an implement.

Patented Mar. 13, 1945 Eric S. 'Wessborg, Saginaw, Mich. Application Marn 31, 1941, Serial-No. 386,014: 1 8'Claiin's. (01. 3548) This inventionrelates to improvements in devices to facilitate teaching Braille to theblind.

For pi.1rposes of description presentimprovement may be regarded ascarrying forward and developing in a new andinven tive sense cercam,ideas employed ratus and types, wherein is disclosed and claimed a meansfortaking notes, writinglettersand printing books in Braille. 'I"hatinvention is intended, to be used by blind personswho are fa; miliarwith Braille.

The present improvement paratus the function of which is to assist inteach} to' enable seeing persons, even those ,who cannot 1 rai l tq a hblind I beginners the rudiments of that system; to lessen themselvesread or write the mental effort and reduce the anxiety and feelings ofuncertainty heretofore experienced by many blind beginners during'thearly stages of to shorten the time relearn the alphabetic and V lwith the foregoing "and certain-otl erobjects their-learning period;quiredfora novice to othje symbols of Braille.

ciiis, my invention comprises the devices deg In the drawing,

Fig. 1 showsa conventional Braille cell of-i-six ear I Fig. Zfshows thesix dot Fig. 3 shows schematically two typical strips which areillustrative of the strips usedin neof the preferred embodiments of myinvention, being independently movable in the direction of their length,each bearing eight facets, witha desigin Patent No. 1,99'8loes, sued tome April 16, 1935, for Printing; appae has ows bi t: j to provide asimplified, relatively inexpensive apin view which will be set' forth inthe specifica and u ialmi s hr i- 1 cell divided veitieauy;

5 ing the elements of Braille to blind beginners;

bearing Braille semi-symbols and avisualidentifying' mark associated:with each; semi-e-symbol; associated connecting partsbeing omitted;Fig. 9 is a further modified-form of the facet e nii e Fig. 10 is asectionali view onrline wA-Iu, of v Fig. 11 is an ispmetric ing andwheel assembly, being av further embodiment of the invention; and i Fig.12 is an isometric; view=,, showing the ,com-

modified plete device. I N

The six embossed dots f, a Braille cell; Fig. "1,

are used in various combinations tolrepresent printed c haracterslettels, punctuations, compo sition "signs, etc. For myipresent purpose;as in the .patent alluded to, s uch;a c ell. is divided :vertically topresent two facets, leftehand andrighthand, Fig. 2.

nating numeral for each facet: the strips are shown spaced apart forpurposes of description; their associated connecting parts beingomitted-.

Fig.4 shows various items from a conventional alphabet chart for Braillefacet; Figs; 5 and 6 are, respectively, plan andsectional I grade'onel-and-af half! each item being'made' up of'two facets,

an identifying numeral being associated with each VIEWSOf' a fractionalpart only'of an aper-,.

mired plate' through which is exhibited. one" f Braille symbol rcomposed-f two {adjacent Fig; 7 is a face ployingtwo sliding strips asin Fig. 3;

Fig. a shows 3 schematically two. members one" modified typecomprisingrevolvable disksea'ch are omitted for thesake of In'Fig. 3 theefiifiland sferies'of reight facets shows the possible combinations;that can be made from the three left-hand Braille. cell dots, Fig; 1,D1115 pn rbl nk'. he i htehandseries of eight facets, Fig. ,3, issimilarlymadeup...

By arranging a right-hand andleftehand facet side-by si The right-handand left-hand series of facets may be on tyvo parallel, strips .ofsuitable mate.- I

rial,' l 0, H illustrated in "and'li are shiftable endwise relatively;to each other jas indicated by, {the arrows left-hand and right-handfacets into conjunc tion and are preferably mountedffor adjustmentendwis'e in a housing l2, Fig. ,7, as will'beexplained later.

It shouldbenoted that -Fig.: andalso. Fig. 8

areschematic views of pairs. of facet-bearing members that can be movedrelatively to each other to produce the variousBraille .symbolsi ig. 3such members are strips l0 and H;

and'in F ig. 8 the memberslaredisks l1 and l8 with Braille symbols ontheir adjacent eris.

' clarity. Fig. stripslike those of Fig.3: installed in the housing andequipped with finger of the operator, shown at the right in Fig. 7, isemployed to shift the semi-symbols so as to arrange them injuxtaposition.

Assigned to each facet is a suitable identifying symbol, 27, suchBraille dots in a verticalrowand'Jsymbol'3 may having one central dot.By comsectional yiewofa housdeany Braille character can be formed.

notches Ila, by which the as the numerals 1 to 8; Symbol bining theleft-hand three-dot facet with the right hand one-dot facet, Figs. 3 to9, the Braille symbol for the letter r or the two whole word "rather iscomposed. Letter n and the word not are made, Fig. 4, by combiningfacets bearing the identifying symbols 4 and 2, thus 42. Word the isformed by placing facets bearing 6 and 4 together. The number sign maybe identified by 7 5, and the letter sign by 86, where the numeral 8designates a blank facet. Any other appropriate visual symbol toidentify each facet of the system maybe substituted for the numerals1-8, 1-8, if desired.

Figs. 5, 6, l1, and 12 show a face-plate [3 with an opening I4 in whichthe selected pair of facets is framed. The sides of opening M are sorelated to the dots on the facts as to indicate the limits of the cell;that is to say, the facerplate I3 prevents the finger of the;user fromcoming into contact with any dots except those that are, a

exposed through the opening.

In'Fig. 6, for instance, the user puts his finger through the opening H,but in Figs. 12 and 13, where the facets and dots 20, 21, project upthrough the opening H in face-plate l3, the users finger, in passingover the surface of the plate, will encounter the dots of the exposedBraille symbol and can not feel any other dots. Inboth cases, Figs. 8and 12, the housing has an opening through which to show anytwo'preselected semi-symbols that together compose a Braille symbol; andin both cases the Braille character is read through the opening in theface plate. In use, a seeing person, knowing that facets bearin 5 and 3designate r merely opening M to produce -1 in Braille.

A tabulated index chart, of which a typical portion is shown in Fig. 4,within the border lines 28 is provided for the use of seeing persons'(even those who'do not know Braille) who may act as numeral, as 5, or3.

moves the facets marked 5, 3 into the face-plate I teachers for blindbeginning pupils. It comprises 3 a standard Braille symbol card,preferably bearing dot formations for each Braille symbol, letter,punctuation mark, number, etc. Associated with each such Braille letteror figure on the card is imprinted two of the identifying symbolscorresponding to a pair of facets. *For example, ad-

jacent the letter r on the index chart there is printed the number 53,showing that the let-" ter r is to be composed by placing facets bearing 5 and 3 side by side. The seeing person accordingly moves facets 5and 3 into position in the window opening 14 of plate l3 soon learns toidentify theletter r. Any other letter, such as n is similarly set up,using, for instance;

index symbol 42.- Braille dots may be omitted from the chart. Thevarious lines designate in each item shown. in Fig. 4, the wheels 2i];2!," with dots 15,.and the flanges 26 bearing the nu-' merals 2 to 8,all of which are also shown in de-' tail in Figs. 9, l0 and 12. Theirpurpose is to aid the seeing operator in comparing the setting of theactual device Fig. 12 with the proper item shown in the chart,Fig. 4. I

Preferably, the-dots or projections l5 on the facets are ofhard'material suchas metal or plastic, and are strongly backed so that apiece of paper l6 placed across the opening '4, Fig. 6,

can be pressed down upon the dots with the finge'r to produce a regularBraille embossment of the letter. Then the blind pupil can by touchcomparehis embossed production with the same letterin a book of standardBraille printing. Thus he is helped to memorize letter after letter inhis own way, even without the verbal instructions which sometimes. areso confusing to a blind person who for the first time is confronted withthe task of learning Braille. He is, to a considerable degree relievedof mental anxiety and distress. The easy and natural approach to theBraille alphabet gives him self-confidence, simplifies his mentalprocesses, avoids confusion and helps him to learn the elementaryBraille symbols in much shorter time than was possible heretofore.

In the foregoing description the facets identified by numerals 1 to 8have been referred to as being embossed on straight bars or strips in,H,

' that are movable lengthwise relatively to each otherin a housing 12.For convenience in setfor the disks 11,18. In use, the seeing persondesiring to set up the symbol 5 3 designating the" word rather and theletter rj will place the proper identifying'symbols 2'? (namely, Sand 3I together, as shown in Fig. 8. The blind person in practicing toidentify the Braille letter 9rwill place his finger on the adjacentparts the two disks l1, l8 and learns to read the three I dots on theleft and the single dot in the right,

A still further modified form of facet identi-t fying and adjustingmechanism is based on the use Of P Y OHal wheels in-pairs, somewhat sThis. m ica ion shown in Patent 1,993,063.

will now be explained, having reference to Figs v 9 to 12' inclusive.

Two polygonal wheels 20, 21 are arranged side by side in a coacting pairin a housing; Eaoh" wheel is mounted so it can be rotated independentlyof the other. The facets of the two'wheels have assortments of Brailledo'ts or projections '1 and blanks, omitted from Figs. ii and 12', a

ranged so that 'by manually revoivingthe' two wheels by means of stubshafts 22, 23, any diesired character in Braille may be formed andexposed through an opening in thefacegf the housing.

Spring-actuated detents 24 and matching re: cesses 25 in the shafts 22,23 are provided for releasably locating seleoted facets of the twowheels in a common plane at'the top of the housing;

rendering it easy for blind operators who know. Braille to finger overthe top face or plate lit of the housing and thus read the'Braillechar-.'

acter through opening M.

In the device ofFigs.

facet identifying numerals may be printed in digit or code mark of theadjacent facet.

For pupils of Braille shorthand thefref ere'nce chart. se by the ein eacr a be-made up of words'instead of letters and nume als, e h word'on thechart bearing two facet i markS-for adies 3 11. 5 in icat E pairoffacets that produce in Brailie word rather given, they,designated'the' lettei :.r. 1

iiheses i the fellow:

a v 11 and i2, asalso, desired,-in Fig. 7, a suitable'Braille chart withWhereas in the ex mele exevieusis.

2,371,325 ing vclaims the use ofcertain terms 'may be explained asfollows.-

By members'is meant the strips H), II of Figs. 3 and 7, the disks l1, l8of Fig. 8, the wheels 1 20 of Figs. 9 to 12, or the equivalents of suchI illustrative parts.

By semi-symbols" is meant the right-hand I portion "or the left-handportion of a Braille cell such as shown in Fig. 2, a complete Braillesymbol being made up of the two semi-symbols in matching position sideby side as shown, for ex- I ample, in Figs. and 7. 1 By visualidentification mark is meant a typed or printed numeral or mark to beread by sight, as distinguished from raised Braille characters to beread by touch. Such identifying marks need not necessarily be numerals 1to 8 as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, but may be any suitable arbitrary marksother than numerals.

The visual identifying mark may be associated with its semi-symbol inany suitable way.,

For example, it' may be printed on the facet along with the semi-symbol,as the numeral 5 is printed on the facet adjacent the three dots inFigs. 3, 5, 8; or printed adjacent the notches, Fig. 7, which serve tolocate their corresponding semi-symbols in the opening l4 whenbroughtinto register with the lower end of face plate l2. The visual numeralsmay also be printed on the rims of the flanges 28 shown in Figs. 10 to12.

The term facet as used herein is not limited to areas mounted indifferent planes such as are shown in Fig. 12, but include areas in thesame plane, either separated by es as in Fig. 3, or without dividinglines, as in Fig. 7.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A device for use in teaching elementary Braille wherein two memberspresent areas bearing semi-symbols in embossed Braille dots, saidmembers being shiftable within a housing to bring any two pre-selectedsemi-symbols into alinement side by side to form a complete Braillesymbol; there being a visual identification mark associated with each ofsaid areas and means for temporarily preventing shifts of said members.

2. A device for use in teaching elementary facets certainof which bearraised semi-symbols I facets whose semi-symbols together form a com- Iable endwise in a housing having an opening to showin alinement any twopre-selected semi v symbols that together compose a complete Braillesymbol, there being a visual identification mark associated with eachsemi-symbol on each strip to direct the selective shifting of saidStrips- 4. A device for use in teaching elementary Braille wherein twoadjacent strips present areas a bearing semi-symbols in Braille, saidstrips being shiftable endwise in a housing having an openingto exposein alinement for reading by touch two pre-selected semi-symbols thattogether compose a complete Braille symbol; having in combinationnotches in the outer edgesof said strips, V

visually readable identification marks on each strip adjacent saidnotches, and a co-operating abutment on the housing.

5. A structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein the shiftable memberscomprisea pair of polygonal wheelsrotatable in a housing; and a stubshaft for rotating each wheel independently of the other. v

6. A device for use in teaching Braille wherein -two.members presentareas bearing semi-symbols in Braille, said members being shiftable in ahousing to bring into alignment two pre-selected semi-Braille symbolsthat together compose a complete Braille symbol; a visual identificationmark imprinted on each of said areas and associated with an appropriatesemi-symbol for directing the shifting of said semi-symbols selectivelyinto register with an aperture in a wall of said housing.

7.'In a device for aiding seeing persons un familiar with Braillecharacters to teach elementary Braille to the blind, a pair of shiftablemembers each provided on its front face with facets certain of whichbear raised semi-symbols in Braille, and also provided withmeans forlocating side-by-side in alinement any two selected.

facets whose semi-symbo-lstogether form a complete Braille charactervisual symbols on the front face ,of each shiftable member, each symboldesignating a certain facet on said member,

and a face plate having an opening through which said two selectedsemi-symbols are exposed for simultaneous reading by touch.

8.- In a device for aiding seeing persons unfamiliar with Braillecharacters to teach elementary Braille to the blind, a pair of shiftablemembers each provided on its front face-with in Braille, and alsoprovided with means for 10- cating side-by-side inalinement any twoselected plete Braille character; visual'symbols on the front face ofeach shiftable member, each symboldesignating a certain facet on saidmember;

a face plate having an opening through which said two selectedsemi-symbols are exposedfor simultaneous reading by touch.

ERIC S. WESSBORG.

semi-symbols in Braille, said strips being shift

